Chopta Tungnath Chandrashila Trek Guide: Route, Camping Ban, Permits

Introduction

The Chopta Tungnath Chandrashila trek is three things stacked on top of each other, and most articles treat them as three separate destinations. They are not. Chopta is where the road ends, Tungnath is 3.5 km up from there, and Chandrashila is another 1.5 km above the temple. You can walk all of it and be back at your guest house before dark.

Start with the correction that matters most for anyone planning a trip.

Chopta is not a trek. It is a hamlet of meadow and evergreen forest on a motorable road inside the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, at 2,709 m per Wikipedia. You drive there. People sell it as "the Chopta trek" and then charge you for a two-day approach you do not need.

Tungnath is not definitively the world's highest Shiva temple, and I am not going to write that it is. Wikipedia's own phrasing is careful: it is "one of the highest Shiva temples in the world" and the highest of the five Panch Kedar. That is the claim that survives scrutiny. The superlative version circulates because it is a better headline.

And then the rule that decides your itinerary.

The Uttarakhand High Court, in a judgment dated 21 August 2018, banned night stay by tourists in the state's alpine and sub-alpine meadows and capped visitor numbers at 200 per day. Chopta's bugyals fall inside that. This is covered properly further down, because it is the single most misrepresented thing on the internet about this trek.

Table of Contents

1. Quick Overview
2. The Three Places, Untangled
3. Permits & Booking
4. The Bugyal Camping Ban — What the Court Actually Ordered
5. Acclimatisation and Acute Mountain Sickness
6. How to Reach from Mumbai
7. How to Reach from Pune
8. The Route: Chopta to Tungnath to Chandrashila
9. The Deoriatal Variant
10. Tungnath Temple: Season, Closure and Makkumath
11. Itinerary Options
12. Accommodation
13. Food
14. Nearby Attractions
15. Budget Breakdown
16. Practical Tips
17. Safety Tips
18. Common Mistakes
19. Best Time to Visit
20. FAQ
21. Conclusion
22. Sources

Quick Overview

Item	Detail
Chopta altitude	2,709 m (8,888 ft), per Wikipedia
Tungnath altitude	3,680 m (12,073 ft), per Wikipedia
Chandrashila altitude	Sources differ. Wikipedia's Chopta article says "over 4,000 m (13,000 ft)" and separately lists 4,090 m; Wikipedia's Chandrashila article says "about 3,690 m (12,110 ft)" and flags it as uncited. Treat it as somewhere between roughly 3,690 m and 4,090 m
District	Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Protected area	Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary), established 1972
Chopta to Tungnath	3.5 km one way (Wikipedia, Chopta article). The Tungnath article says about 5 km. Stone-paved bridle path with benches
Tungnath to Chandrashila	1.5 km, steep
Total	Roughly 9–10 km return from Chopta
Duration	4–6 hours round trip for a reasonably fit walker
Difficulty	Easy to moderate. Short, steep, high
Camping on the meadows	Banned by High Court order
Temple season	Roughly late April/early May to early November
Nearest airport	Jolly Grant, Dehradun — about 226 km (Chandrashila article) to 258 km (Tungnath article)
Nearest railway station	Rishikesh, roughly 209–241 km depending on source

On difficulty. This is an easy trek in distance and a serious one in altitude. Nine kilometres is nothing. Nine kilometres that tops out somewhere close to 4,000 m, done by someone who slept at sea level in Mumbai forty-eight hours earlier, is a different proposition. More on that below.

The Three Places, Untangled

Chopta is a small region of meadows and evergreen forest inside the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, on the road between Ukhimath and Gopeshwar. It sits at 2,709 m. There is no trek to Chopta. There is a drive to Chopta. It is about 45 km from Ukhimath and 162 km from Rishikesh.

Tungnath is the temple, 3,680 m, the third of the Panch Kedar in ritual order and the highest of the five. In the Panch Kedar legend the arms of Shiva-as-bull surfaced here, with the hump at Kedarnath, the face at Rudranath, the navel at Madhyamaheshwar and the hair at Kalpeshwar. The priests are Brahmins from Makkumath village, unlike the other Kedar temples where the tradition set by Adi Shankara brought priests from South India.

Chandrashila is the summit above the temple, literally "moon stone", 1.5 km further up. Legend attaches Rama's post-Ravana penance to it, and separately the moon-god Chandra's penance. On a clear morning you see Nanda Devi, Trisul, Chaukhamba, Bandarpunch, Kedar Peak and Neelkanth. Wikipedia's Chopta article claims visibility of 41 Himalayan peaks from the region.

The height of Chandrashila is one of those numbers the internet has never settled. Wikipedia's own two articles disagree with each other. I have given the range above rather than pick a favourite.

Permits & Booking

There is no online permit portal for this trek in the way Karnataka runs Aranya Vihaara. That is the honest starting point, and it is why so many articles skate over the section.

Forest entry. The route runs inside the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, a 975 sq km protected area in Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts established in 1972. Entry formalities are handled at the local forest check post and by the range office; there is a nominal entry charge for the sanctuary. I could not find an official published tariff for Chopta–Tungnath on a Forest Department page, so I am not going to quote one. Carry a few hundred rupees in cash and your ID and assume you will be asked for both.

Photo ID is the practical requirement. Government photo ID for every person. Groups moving as part of an organised trek are normally registered at the check post by the operator.

Trek operators need Forest Department permission. Since the 2018 High Court order, operators running itineraries inside sanctuary boundaries have had to seek and hold specific permissions, and route changes have been forced on several Uttarakhand treks as a result.

Camping permission is the one that will actually be refused. See the next section. If a package promises you a tent on the Chopta meadow, the operator is either camping outside the meadow and describing it loosely, or is telling you something that does not match the court's order.

Practical checklist before you leave Rishikesh:

• Carry cash. The last dependable ATMs are well before Chopta.
• Carry photo ID, hard copies included.
• If you are booking a stay in Chopta, confirm in writing whether it is a permanent structure or a tented camp, and where exactly that camp sits.
• Confirm whether the temple is open on your dates. A closed Tungnath is a very different day out.

The Bugyal Camping Ban — What the Court Actually Ordered

This is the section that should decide your itinerary, so read it before you book anything.

On 21 August 2018, the Uttarakhand High Court at Nainital decided a public interest litigation filed by the Aali-Bedini-Bagzi Bugyal Sanrakshan Samiti (Writ Petition (PIL) No. 123 of 2014). The court:

• banned night stay by tourists in the alpine and sub-alpine meadows (bugyals) of Uttarakhand,
• capped visitors at 200 per day,
• ordered the removal of all permanent structures and encroachments from the bugyals within three months,
• ordered commercial grazing of cattle to be discontinued,
• directed district magistrates to clear plastic waste within six months.

The order was statewide and applied to bugyals generally, not only to the Aali-Bedini-Bagzi meadows named in the petition. Chopta's meadows are bugyals. So are the grassland stretches you walk across between Chopta and Tungnath.

The effect on trekking was immediate and severe. Indiahikes suspended the Roopkund trek entirely because the Bedni Bugyal camps were central to its acclimatisation. Kuari Pass was put on hold because Gorson Bugyal occupies much of the trail. Har Ki Dun's final campsite, being in an alpine meadow, was dropped. Kedarkantha had to revert to an older route that avoided meadow camping. That is the scale of what one judgment did.

Did the state get it overturned? In June 2019 the Uttarakhand government said publicly it would appeal to the Supreme Court against the ban on night stay in the meadows. I could not find any credible report of the Supreme Court staying or setting aside the camping ban, and the operating reality on the ground in Uttarakhand continues to reflect the restriction: itineraries are still built to avoid meadow camping, and Roopkund has still not returned to normal running.

What this means for you at Chopta:

• Do not plan to pitch a tent on the meadow between Chopta and Tungnath. Not at Tungnath. Not on Chandrashila.
• Stay in Chopta itself, in a lodge or guest house, or at Duggalbitta, Sari or Ukhimath, and walk up in the morning.
• If a package sells you "camping in Chopta meadows", ask precisely where the camp is pitched and whether it is inside the sanctuary meadow. Then decide whether you want to be part of that.

The 200-per-day cap is much harder to observe in practice, and Chopta on a long weekend in May very obviously carries more than 200 people. I am recording what the court ordered, not claiming it is uniformly enforced. Enforcement across Uttarakhand's bugyals has been patchy and has varied by division and by year.

Acclimatisation and Acute Mountain Sickness

Short trek, real altitude. This section is not optional.

Where the risk sits. Chopta is 2,709 m. Chandrashila is somewhere near 4,000 m. Acute mountain sickness becomes a genuine possibility above roughly 2,500 m, and the classic pattern here is a Mumbai or Pune group that flies to Dehradun in the morning, drives nine hours to Chopta the same day, sleeps badly at 2,700 m, and climbs 1,300 m the next morning. That is a fast profile.

Symptoms to know. Headache is the cardinal one, usually with at least one of: nausea or loss of appetite, unusual fatigue, dizziness, disturbed sleep. AMS is not "being tired". Tired improves when you sit down. AMS does not.

The two things that make it dangerous. HAPE (fluid in the lungs — breathlessness at rest, a wet cough, tightness) and HACE (fluid in the brain — confusion, loss of coordination, inability to walk a straight line). Both are emergencies. Both are treated by descending, immediately, at any hour.

What actually helps on this specific trek:

• Sleep one night lower before Chopta. Ukhimath (about 1,300 m) or Sari village works well. Break the drive there, sleep, then move to Chopta. It costs you half a day and it changes the physiology completely.
• Sleep a night in Chopta before summiting. Do not do Chopta arrival and Chandrashila summit on the same day. It is physically possible and it is the most common reason people feel wretched on the descent.
• Climb high, sleep low. If you have a spare afternoon, walk part way up to Tungnath and come back down to sleep.
• Drink properly. Three to four litres a day. Altitude plus dry cold air dehydrates you faster than you notice.
• No alcohol the night before. This should be obvious and frequently is not.
• Go slowly on the stone steps. The paved path invites you to march. Do not.
• Descend if it does not improve. The correct response to worsening AMS is going down. There is no supplementary oxygen at the temple.

On acetazolamide (Diamox). It is widely used for altitude prophylaxis. It is a prescription medicine with real side effects and interactions. Talk to a doctor before you go, not to a WhatsApp group at the trailhead.

If you have come from the Sahyadris, our comparison of Sahyadri treks versus Himalayan treks explains why fitness built on Maharashtra forts does not transfer directly to 4,000 m. You can be very fit and still get AMS. It is not a fitness test.

How to Reach Chopta from Mumbai

Everything routes through Haridwar, Rishikesh or Dehradun. There is no shortcut.

Route A — fly to Dehradun. Fastest. Direct Mumbai–Dehradun (Jolly Grant, DED) flights operate daily, roughly two and a half hours. Wikipedia's Chandrashila article puts Jolly Grant at about 226 km from Chopta; the Tungnath article says 258 km. Either way it is a full day of mountain driving from the airport. Land in the morning, not the evening.

Route B — train to Haridwar. Cheapest and surprisingly civilised. Direct services run from Mumbai to Haridwar. It is a long ride, in the region of 26 to 30 hours depending on the train, and it drops you at the natural staging point for all of Garhwal. From Haridwar, Rishikesh is 25 km and shared jeeps and buses run up the valley from there.

Route C — fly to Delhi, then overland. More flight options, then an overnight bus or train to Haridwar. Only worth it if the Dehradun fares are absurd on your dates.

The road leg, and this is the part that ruins schedules. From Rishikesh you go via Devprayag, Srinagar (Garhwal), Rudraprayag, Kund and Ukhimath to Chopta. Wikipedia puts Chopta at 162 km from Rishikesh. That is eight to ten hours in practice, more in monsoon, more again if there has been a landslide. Shared jeeps run in stages: Rishikesh to Rudraprayag, Rudraprayag to Ukhimath, Ukhimath to Chopta, with the last leg thinning out badly in the afternoon.

My recommendation for a Mumbai group: fly to Dehradun on the first morning, drive to Ukhimath or Sari and sleep there, move to Chopta on day two, summit on day three. It looks slow. It is the version where everybody enjoys themselves.

How to Reach Chopta from Pune

Pune → Dehradun by air. Direct flights operate on most days. Same logic as Mumbai: land early, drive the same day only as far as Ukhimath.

Pune → Haridwar by train. Direct services exist but are long, in the 30-hour region. Comfortable if you like trains, brutal if you do not.

Pune → Delhi → Haridwar. The flexible option. Fly into Delhi, then a train or overnight Volvo to Haridwar, then shared jeeps up.

Pune groups often try to compress this into a four-day trip with two overnight journeys. It can be done. It is also the itinerary most likely to hand somebody a headache at 3,600 m. Six days is the sensible shape.

The Route: Chopta to Tungnath to Chandrashila

Chopta to Tungnath — 3.5 km, roughly 2 to 3 hours. Wikipedia's Tungnath article gives the distance as about 5 km and 4–5 hours; the Chopta article says 3.5 km. The difference is probably where you start measuring from along the roadside strip.

The path is stone-paved with benches at intervals, which is unusual and makes it far more approachable than most Himalayan trails. It climbs steadily from around 2,926 ft-equivalent altitude markers on the Wikipedia description, gaining roughly 900 m to the temple. There is no route-finding involved. In March the rhododendron coppices along it flower crimson to pink, which is the single best reason to time your trip for spring.

It is steep. Paved does not mean gentle. Long stone steps at altitude take more out of you than a dirt path would.

Tungnath to Chandrashila — 1.5 km, about an hour. This is where it stops being a walk. Loose ground, steeper gradient, thinner air, and in winter it is snow and ice. The final push is short and it will make you stop repeatedly.

The summit. Small, exposed, windy. The Himalayan panorama is the whole point and it is gone by mid-morning on many days. Wikipedia's Chopta article notes that clouds and rain typically move in around afternoon and smudge the view, which is why every sensible itinerary starts before dawn.

Then you come down the same way.

Mobile network: patchy at Chopta, effectively absent above it.

The Deoriatal Variant

If you have an extra day, add Deoria Tal.

Deoria Tal is a lake at about 2,350 m, reached by a 2.5 to 3 km climb from Sari village, off the Ukhimath road. The reflection of Chaukhamba in the water at dawn is the photograph everyone comes for. It is an easy walk and it is a genuinely good acclimatisation day before Chopta.

There is a longer traverse, Deoriatal to Chopta on foot, roughly 10–12 km through forest, which Wikipedia notes is used as an alternative approach when the road to Chopta is blocked by snow. Wikipedia's Chandrashila article describes the winter route as Deoria Tal – Duggalbitta – Tungnath – Chandrashila for the same reason.

Camping at Deoriatal has its own restrictions and has been the subject of the same broader conservation pressure that produced the 2018 order. Ask before you assume, and prefer to sleep in Sari.

Tungnath Temple: Season, Closure and Makkumath

The temple is not open all year and this catches people out.

Winter closure. Wikipedia states that owing to heavy snowfall the temple remains closed for around six months in winter, and that during that period the symbolic image of the deity and the temple priests move down to the Markandeshwar Temple at Makkumath village, 29 km away, near Duggalbitta and about 10 km before Chopta on the Ukhimath side. The priests are Maithani Brahmins from Makkumath.

That relocation is the doli yatra: the deity is carried down in a palanquin at closing and brought back up at opening. It is worth seeing if your dates coincide.

Opening and closing dates move every year because they are fixed on the Hindu calendar, typically around Akshaya Tritiya for the opening and around Bhai Dooj for the closing. I am not going to publish a specific date for your travel year from a secondary source. The pattern is: portals open in late April or early May, portals close in late October or early November. Confirm your dates with the Shri Badrinath–Shri Kedarnath Temple Committee before you plan around a darshan.

You can still do the trek when the temple is closed. Chandrashila in January, under snow, is spectacular. You just will not get inside the shrine, and the road to Chopta may itself be blocked, which is when the Deoriatal–Duggalbitta approach comes into play. Wikipedia notes that even Chopta, the nearest roadhead, largely empties out in the off season.

If you are combining this with the bigger Garhwal pilgrimage circuit, our Kedarnath Yatra 2026 guide covers the registration and helicopter logistics for the first of the Panch Kedar.

Itinerary Options

Option A — the sensible six-day version. Recommended. Day 1: Mumbai/Pune to Dehradun by air, drive to Ukhimath or Sari, sleep low. Day 2: Morning walk to Deoria Tal and back, then drive to Chopta. Sleep at Chopta. Day 3: Pre-dawn start, Tungnath and Chandrashila, back to Chopta by midday. Afternoon rest. Day 4: Drive out to Rishikesh or Haridwar. Day 5: Travel home. Day 6: Buffer for landslides. Keep it. You will need it one trip in three.

Option B — the compressed four-day version. Fly in, drive straight to Chopta, summit next morning, drive out, fly home. It works. It is also the version where AMS shows up. Only do it if your group has been at altitude before.

Option C — the winter version. Late December to March, with snow on the Tungnath steps and Chandrashila under a metre of it. Wikipedia notes Chopta gets snowfall from November to March and that by January the layer can be four to seven feet. Microspikes, gaiters, proper insulation. The temple will be shut. The road may be too, in which case you walk in from Sari via Deoriatal.

Option D — spring, for the rhododendrons. Mid-March to April. The coppices between Chopta and Tungnath flower crimson and pink. Best time of year on this specific stretch of trail.

Accommodation

Chopta. Small, and that is deliberate. A handful of lodges, guest houses and tented setups strung along the roadside. Basic, cold, and often without dependable electricity. Book ahead in May–June and in the New Year week; turn up on a Tuesday in September and you will find something.

Duggalbitta. About 10 km below Chopta towards Ukhimath. There is a forest rest house here, positioned opposite the Kedarnath range. Quieter than Chopta.

Sari village. The base for Deoria Tal, with homestays. Lower, warmer, better for acclimatisation.

Ukhimath. A proper small town, 45 km away, with more choice and the winter seat of Kedarnath. Good place to break the drive up.

On the meadows. No. See the High Court section.

Food

Chopta has small dhabas serving the standard Garhwal roadside menu: dal, rice, roti, sabzi, Maggi, endless chai. It is fine, hot, and cheap. Nobody comes here for the food.

There are a few tea stalls on the Tungnath path in season and one or two near the temple. Do not depend on them outside the temple season, when the whole ridge shuts down.

Carry two litres per person for the climb, plus dry snacks. Chocolate, dry fruit, chikki, ORS sachets. Hot water in a flask is worth the weight in winter.

Vegetarian food only near the temple. Respect that.

Nearby Attractions

• Deoria Tal — 2,350 m lake with the Chaukhamba reflection, from Sari village.
• Ukhimath — winter seat of Kedarnath and Madhyamaheshwar. The Omkareshwar temple here is where Kedarnath's deity is worshipped through the winter.
• Makkumath — the Markandeshwar Temple, Tungnath's winter seat, near Duggalbitta.
• Kanchula Korak musk deer sanctuary area and the breeding centre at Kharchula Kharak near Chopta, part of the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary set up in 1972.
• Rudraprayag — confluence of the Alaknanda and Mandakini, one of the Panch Prayag.
• Chandrapuri and the Mandakini valley — riverside stops on the drive up.
• Guptkashi and Kedarnath — 90 minutes down the valley from Ukhimath and the obvious extension for a longer trip.

Chopta is also a strong birdwatching base. The Himalayan monal is the headline species and you have a real chance of seeing one on the Tungnath path at first light.

Budget Breakdown

Two people, six days, from Mumbai. Indicative, not quoted rates.

Item	Budget (₹)	Mid-range (₹)
Mumbai–Dehradun or Haridwar return, per person	2,200 (sleeper train)	12,000 (flight)
Rishikesh/Dehradun to Chopta and back, per person	1,600 (shared jeeps)	9,000 (private taxi share)
Stay, 4 nights, per person	3,200	9,000
Food, 6 days, per person	1,800	3,500
Sanctuary entry and local charges	see note	see note
Guide, optional, per group	1,500	2,500
Warm gear rental or purchase	1,000	4,000
Buffer	2,000	4,000

Sanctuary entry: there is a nominal charge collected locally. I could not find an official published tariff for this route on a Forest Department page and I am not going to invent one. Carry cash.

A packaged trek from Rishikesh or Dehradun typically bundles transport, stay, food and guide, and for a first Himalayan trip that is usually the better value once you price the taxis separately.

Practical Tips

Start before sunrise on summit day. Clouds build from late morning and the view is the reason you came.

Sleep low the night before you sleep at Chopta. Ukhimath or Sari. This is the single highest-value change you can make to a standard itinerary.

Cash. The last dependable ATMs are well down the valley. Chopta is not a place to discover your card does not work.

Layers, not one big jacket. Chopta swings hard between sun and shade, and the summit is always colder and windier than the temple.

Microspikes from December to March. The paved steps ice over and a paved surface under ice is worse than dirt.

Trekking poles for the descent. The stone steps hammer knees.

Do not feed the monal or the langurs. It is a wildlife sanctuary.

Carry your rubbish down. The 2018 court order specifically directed district magistrates to clear plastic from the bugyals. Do not add to the pile.

Build a buffer day. Garhwal roads close. Not occasionally — regularly.

Read first aid kit for Sahyadri treks and add altitude-specific items: a thermometer, extra ORS, and whatever your doctor advises for AMS.

Safety Tips

Altitude first. See the AMS section above. It is the real hazard on this trek and the one people plan for least.

The road is more dangerous than the trail. Statistically and by a wide margin. Garhwal mountain roads, night driving, tired drivers. Do not travel these roads after dark, and do not let a taxi driver push through a section that has visibly slipped.

Weather turns fast on Chandrashila. It is an exposed summit with nothing to shelter behind. If cloud comes in while you are on top, go down. Do not wait for it to clear.

Snow and ice on the temple steps. From December through March the paved section holds ice in the shaded corners even on sunny days. This is where people fall.

Winter cold. Wikipedia records Chopta winter temperatures between about −15°C and 15°C. Underdressed day-trippers in January are a recurring rescue.

Wildlife. Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary is musk deer habitat and holds Himalayan black bear among other species. Encounters on the main path are unlikely. Keep to the path anyway.

Group discipline. Do not let the fast walkers summit an hour ahead of the slow ones on a mountain where the weather changes in twenty minutes. Group trekking safety rules has the basics.

Emergency. 112. The nearest hospital of any size is at Ukhimath or further down at Rudraprayag. Evacuation from Chandrashila means walking down to Chopta first. Factor that into your risk calculation, and read when to cancel or turn back from a trek.

Common Mistakes

Booking a "Chopta trek". Chopta is on a road. You are paying for a drive.

Doing the summit on your arrival day. Nine hours in a jeep from Rishikesh, then 1,300 m of ascent the next morning. This is how a short easy trek turns into a bad experience.

Assuming you can camp in the meadows. The High Court banned night stay in Uttarakhand's bugyals in August 2018 and I found no evidence that order has been set aside.

Going in July or August. Wikipedia is blunt about it: summer cloud from June to August means no clear view of the Himalayas, and the monsoon brings landslides to the approach roads. You will drive two days for grey.

Turning up expecting darshan in December. The temple is shut for roughly six months. The deity is at Makkumath.

No cash.

Treating "easy trek" as "no preparation". Easy in distance. Not easy in altitude.

Starting at 9 am. By then the clouds are already building.

Best Time to Visit

Mid-March to April — my pick. Rhododendrons in flower along the Chopta–Tungnath path, in Wikipedia's words displaying "dazzling colours ranging from crimson to pink". Residual snow high up. The temple opens towards the end of this window. Cold at night, clear in the mornings.

May to mid-June — the busy season. The temple is open, the weather is settled, and everyone in North India has the same idea. Book ahead. Chopta at Whitsun is not a wilderness experience.

Late June to August — skip it. Monsoon. Cloud cover kills the view, the roads slide, and the Himalayan panorama that justifies the whole trip simply is not there.

September to mid-November — the second-best window and arguably the best for views. Post-monsoon air is the clearest of the year. Green meadows in September, gold by October. The temple closes in this window, so check dates if darshan matters.

December to March — the winter trek. Snow from November, deepening to several feet by January. Beautiful, demanding, and a different trip: microspikes, a shut temple, and possibly a walk-in from Sari if the road is blocked. Wikipedia notes winter skies are the clearest of all, with all the mountains visible.

If you like the shape of this trek — short, high, view-driven — our Triund trek guide covers the Himachal equivalent at lower altitude, and Bhrigu Lake is the step up in the same style.

FAQ

Q: Is Chopta a trek? A: No. Chopta is a roadside hamlet of meadow and forest at 2,709 m inside the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, reached by car. The trek starts at Chopta and goes up to Tungnath and Chandrashila.

Q: Is Tungnath the highest Shiva temple in the world? A: It is best described as one of the highest Shiva temples in the world, and it is the highest of the five Panch Kedar temples. Wikipedia uses exactly that careful phrasing. The definitive "world's highest" claim is widely repeated but not securely established.

Q: How high is Chandrashila? A: Sources differ. Wikipedia's Chopta article describes it as rising to over 4,000 m and elsewhere lists 4,090 m; Wikipedia's Chandrashila article gives about 3,690 m and marks the figure as needing a citation. Somewhere between roughly 3,690 m and 4,090 m is the honest answer.

Q: Can I camp in the Chopta meadows? A: The Uttarakhand High Court's order of 21 August 2018 banned night stay by tourists in the state's alpine and sub-alpine meadows and capped visitors at 200 per day. I found no credible report of that order being set aside. Plan to sleep in a lodge at Chopta, Duggalbitta, Sari or Ukhimath rather than on the meadow.

Q: Do I need a permit? A: There is no online booking portal for this trek. The route lies inside Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, so forest entry formalities and a nominal charge apply at the local check post. Carry government photo ID and cash. I could not find an official published fee for this route.

Q: How long is the Chopta to Chandrashila trek? A: About 3.5 km from Chopta to Tungnath (Wikipedia's Tungnath article says roughly 5 km) and a further 1.5 km to Chandrashila. Call it 9–10 km round trip, four to six hours for a fit walker.

Q: When is Tungnath temple open? A: Roughly late April or early May to late October or early November, with exact dates set on the Hindu calendar each year. Wikipedia notes the temple stays closed for around six months in winter, when the deity and priests move to the Markandeshwar Temple at Makkumath, 29 km away. Confirm dates with the temple committee.

Q: Can beginners do this trek? A: Yes, with a sensible acclimatisation profile. It is short and the path to Tungnath is stone-paved. The altitude is the difficulty, not the terrain. Sleep a night lower before Chopta and a night in Chopta before summiting.

Q: Is it doable in winter? A: Yes, with microspikes and proper insulation. Chopta gets snow from November to March and can hold four to seven feet by January. The temple will be closed and the road may be blocked, in which case trekkers use the Deoria Tal – Duggalbitta – Tungnath approach.

Q: What is the best month for Himalayan views? A: October and November for post-monsoon clarity, and midwinter for the clearest skies of all. Avoid June to August, when cloud covers the peaks.

Conclusion

Chopta Tungnath Chandrashila is the best short trek in Garhwal and one of the few places where a person with no mountain experience can stand at close to 4,000 m and see Nanda Devi, Trisul and Chaukhamba in one sweep. Three and a half kilometres of stone-paved path to the highest of the Panch Kedar, then a hard, honest hour to the summit.

The two things that decide whether your trip works are both about time. Give the altitude time — sleep low, then sleep at Chopta, then climb. And give the mountain the early hours, because by eleven in the morning on most days the view is gone.

On camping: the meadows are closed to night stay under a 2018 High Court order and that is not a technicality to be worked around. There are perfectly good beds at Chopta and Sari. Use them, and let the bugyals recover.

Go in late March for the rhododendrons or in October for the air. Skip the monsoon entirely.

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Building a Garhwal trip around this? Add our Kedarnath Yatra 2026 guide for the valley below, and read Sahyadri trek versus Himalayan trek if this is your first time going high after years on Maharashtra forts.

Image Alt Text Suggestions

1. Stone-paved trail from Chopta climbing towards Tungnath temple
2. Tungnath temple at 3,680 metres, highest of the Panch Kedar, Rudraprayag district
3. Chandrashila summit at dawn with Chaukhamba and Nanda Devi on the horizon
4. Rhododendron in bloom along the Chopta to Tungnath path in March
5. Chopta meadow and evergreen forest inside Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary
6. Himalayan monal photographed near the Tungnath trail at first light
7. Snow-covered steps on the Tungnath path in January
8. Deoria Tal lake reflecting Chaukhamba at sunrise, Sari village
9. Forest rest house at Duggalbitta below Chopta
10. Trekkers on the final steep climb from Tungnath to Chandrashila
11. Markandeshwar Temple at Makkumath, winter seat of Tungnath

Sources

1. Chopta — Wikipedia (altitude, sanctuary status, distances, climate, snow depth, Chandrashila 4,090 m listing): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopta
2. Tungnath — Wikipedia (3,680 m, "one of the highest Shiva temples in the world", Panch Kedar legend, Makkumath winter seat, Maithani Brahmin priests, six-month winter closure, route and access distances): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungnath
3. Chandrashila — Wikipedia (about 3,690 m, marked as needing citation; winter Deoria Tal–Duggalbitta route; distances from Rishikesh and Jolly Grant): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrashila
4. Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary — Wikipedia (975 sq km, established 1972, Rudraprayag and Chamoli): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedarnath_Wildlife_Sanctuary
5. Aali Bedini Bagzi Bugyal Sanrakshan Samiti vs State of Uttarakhand and Others, Uttarakhand High Court at Nainital, Writ Petition (PIL) No. 123 of 2014, decided 21 August 2018 — full text: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/147330564/
6. "High Court Order Ends Trekking in Uttarakhand" — Indiahikes, on the immediate operational effect of the 21 August 2018 order: https://indiahikes.com/blog/high-court-order-ends-trekking-in-uttarakhand
7. "Latest Updates About Treks Affected By High Court Order" — Indiahikes, trek-by-trek route changes forced by the meadow camping ban: https://indiahikes.com/blog/latest-updates-about-treks-affected-by-high-court-order
8. "Uttarakhand govt to challenge high court ban on night stay in Himalayan meadows" — PTI via Business Standard, June 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/uttarakhand-govt-to-challenge-high-court-ban-on-night-stay-in-himalayan-meadows-119062501270_1.html
9. "HC order to affect trekking in U'khand" — The Statesman: https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/hc-order-to-affect-trekking-in-ukhand-1502679615.html
10. Tungnath — Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Government of Uttarakhand: https://uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/tungnath
11. Chopta — Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Government of Uttarakhand: https://uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/destination/chopta

The 2018 High Court order is the single most important thing on this page and its practical enforcement has varied by forest division and by year. Temple opening and closing dates change annually. Confirm both with the local forest office and the Shri Badrinath–Shri Kedarnath Temple Committee before you fix travel.